Latest News from Japan Zone & Japan Store

The popular NTV talk show “Oshare Kankei” is to come to an end in March after a 10-year run. Hosted by Furutachi Ichiro (50) and co-hosted by Watanabe Marina (34), it has been one of the most popular Sunday night shows for some time. But since taking over the main weeknight news slot on TV Asahi from Kume Hiroshi, Furutachi has been looking to focus more on that. Kume became a regular fixture in many living rooms during his 18 years on “News Station,” and his successor is probably hoping to build the same legacy with the new version, “Houdou Station.”

• A signed photo of Korean heart-throb Bae Yong Joon (32) that had received bids of over ¥300,000 on Yahoo! Japan’s auction site turns out to have been a fake. The actor’s Tokyo management company has warned fans, mostly middle-aged women who he refers to as his “family,” on his official site.• Veteran actress Yoshinaga Sayuri (59) has just wrapped up her 111th movie. In “Kita no Zeronen” (Year One in the North) she plays the wife of Watanabe Ken in an original story set in post-Meiji era Hokkaido.

The entertainment world got a bit of a shock when actress Sugita Kaoru (40) announced that she got married this week. And what’s more, she married the very wealthy company president Ayukawa Junta (44), meaning she’ll be able to lead what is called a “celeb” lifestyle. The couple only met last December, so it’s a classic example of a “dengeki kekkon,” or speed wedding. Sugita became a star when still a child and cultivated an image of the “girl next door.” But the pressure of that image turned her into a rebel in her late teens and she became known as a fiery women who speaks her mind and likes a drink. In recent years, she’s been the poster girl for unmarried women heading into middle age, often referred to as “ma-ke inu.” Literally meaning “loser dog,” it can be translated as someone who has failed to follow the usual track to marriage and happiness. Sugita has been able to cash in on this image to ensure herself regular spots on variety shows. In her statement to the media she didn’t say whether she will continue working. Ayukawa, who was born in Boston and graduated from MIT, comes from a very distinguished family that includes former politicians and the founder of the Nissan zaibatsu.

Former Checkers sax player Fujii Naoyuki (photo, 40) revealed in a postcard sent out to fan club members that he got married at the New Year. he said he married “A-san” in a ceremony in Hawaii, the most popular winter destination for Japanese celebrities. Also in attendance was his elder brother, singer/songwriter and former Checkers vocalist Fujii Fumiya (42).

• The official Japanese web site of Korean heart-throb Bae Yong Joon (32) has reopened. The site was hacked on Christmas Eve last year, and “Yon-sama” thanked his “family” of fans for their patience in waiting 18 days for it to reopen. Site administrators in Tokyo are working with police to look into the attack. Meanwhile “Winter Sonata,” the show that made Bae a household name in Japan, is a hit all over again in Korea. Last Saturday, KBS broadcast the original first two episodes in a late-night slot usually reserved for hit Western movies. They both scored very high ratings for the slot, as Koreans try to work out why their popular culture icons have become so big in Japan.

Singer Suzuki Ami (22) announced a recent concert that she has signed with the Avex record label. Once one of the biggest pop stars, her career went into a dive four years ago after disputes and a court case with her former label.

• Popular rakugo comedian Shoufukutei Nikaku (67) is to become a special consultant to the Yoshimoto talent agency. The appointment was a request in the will of former chairman Hayashi Hiroaki, who died on January 3.

• A couple of big Hollywood stars are on their way to Japan for the first time in 4 years. Nicole Kidman will be here on January 20 to promote her new movie “Stepford Wives.” And Jennifer Lopez will be in town at the end of February to promote her upcoming 4th album “Rebirth.”

After three months, the recently completed 7th series of auditions for new members of Morning Musume has failed to turn up any stars in the making. Producer Tsunku said that he was looking for a new “ace” as group leader Iida Kaoru (23) is graduating at the end of this month. Ishikawa Rika is also leaving the group in May, leaving it with ten members.

• Actress Yonekura Ryoko (photo, 29) is still denying having any impending wedding plans. Speaking at a PR event for the theater production of Liasons Dangereuses, she faced the usual barrage of questions about marriage before the end of the year with kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo (formerly Shinnosuke, 27). She also claimed the sparkler on her ring finger wasn’t an engagement ring, but reporters sense a big story in the making.

• Talento Nishikawa Kaneko (30) is engaged to marry a pattisier just seven years younger than her father, veteran Yoshimoto comedian Nishikawa Tsuyoshi (58). With both his sons being actors, and Kiyoshi himself a former Diet member, the Nishikawas are considered the Yoshimoto “Royal Family.”

Today is the Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day) national holiday. People who turn 20 this year attend ceremonies or visit shrines to celebrate their arrival in adulthood (and they can now legally drink and smoke!).

NHK chairman Ebisawa Katsuji (70) has finally indicated that he may step down as early as March. The public broadcaster has been beset with scandals and poor ratings for the last year. Just two days ago, a producer was arrested for the second time for embezzling program funds. Ebisawa has recently even taken the unprecedented step of appearing on the channel to apologize. But the number of viewers who refuse to pay their subscription fees continues to grow, and most want to see Ebisawa go. He has been chairman since 1996 and is in his third term, a long time by recent standards.

• The upcoming 6th movie version of the popular “One Piece” anime series will feature a theme tune by “tsuppari” rock band Kishidan. With their outlandish hairdos and student uniforms, the band look like bosozoku bike punks, but have been becoming very popular over the last year or so. Band leader Ayanokoji “Thelonius” Sho will do the voice narration for the character of Kotetsu. The movie is set to open on March 5.

• Takarazuka star Dan Rei announced this week that she is to retire in August. She joined the troupe in 1992 and became female star of the Star Troupe in 2003 alongside “male” star Kozuki Wataru.

Nakashima Tadayuki (photo right, 33) of the up-and-coming manzai duo Cunning has been in hospital for the last few weeks. His comedy partner, Takeyama Takanori (33) gave a press conference yesterday and revealed that the cause was acute leukemia. He may require a bone marrow transplant and it’s likely to be 6 months to a year before he can return to show business. Takeyama will continue to work solo until his return. Nakashima has been in a Tokyo hospital since collapsing in mid-December. The duo appeared on many New Year TV specials, all pre-recorded. Nakashima is the sickly-looking “tsukomi” or straight guy to the always ranting Takeyama. 2004 was a breakthrough year for the duo, who made their debut back in 1993, and they are one of the most popular of the many comedy acts that have ridden the wave of the recent “o-warai boom”. Privately, Nakashima married in April and became a father in September.

• Actor Kashiwabara Takashi (27) faces arrest for assaulting a 40-year old man on December 30. The fight is said to have started as an argument over the man’s car blocking a narrow street.

Yoshimoto chairman Hayashi Hiroaki died of lung cancer on Monday night at an Osaka hospital. He was 62. One of the last people to visit him in hospital was comedian and emcee Shimada Shinsuke (48), who caused a furor when he assaulted a female fellow Yoshimoto employee in October. He was in tears again as he expressed having caused such trouble to the dying Hayashi. Other Yoshimoto veteran comedians, such as DownTown‘s Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi, Nishikawa Kiyoshi, and Kazama Kampei paid tribute to their late boss. Former vice-president Yoshino Isao (62) was appointed to take over the firm yesterday. Hayashi entered the firm established by his father-in-law, the late Hayashi Shonosuke, in 1971.

• “Howl’s Moving Castle” has been seen by over 10 million people in Japan in the month and a half since it opened. It was also the No.1 movie in Korea over the New Year, and it is expected to reach 5 million cinemagoers there. The latest animation from Studio Ghibli and director Miyazaki Hayao may yet surpass the box office records set by their previous hit, 2001’s “Spirited Away.”

Well, despite NHK chairman Ebisawa’s claims that it would be the best ever, Kohaku was a big flop. The second part of the New Year’s Eve song spectacle recorded a viewer rating of just 39% in the Tokyo area, the first ever below 40%. The opening half rated just over 30% and was the 2nd worst ever. Even the presence of several Korean stars such as BoA and Lee Byun Hung, who were last year’s hot item, couldn’t save the ratings. It did mean the show got a feature on Korean TV, though. Meanwhile, of the fighting sports shows that were on almost every other channel, TBS’s K-1 show became the first to record 20% on a private network.

• Yoshimoto comedian and emcee Shimada Shinsuke (photo, 48) made a brief appearance on January 2. Though highly apologetic after a 2-month layoff resulting from his assault of a female Yoshimoto employee in October, he signaled his intent to get back to work. He had 8 regular TV slots before the case that threatened to end his career. The woman has yet to fully accept his profusions of apology and took the case to court.